Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1887-07-09

AhV bSe9t VhNN AovA ~ PICK ana bniu
he'd smash tho brains OF two OF us II
the other would kill him and then kill
himself. Then Bill suggested that SO
long ms strength held out we drill on
one OF the unfinished holes. load IL with
giant and all go up In balloon to.
gether. Tho idea was accepted, and
Jim Allen began to work hand drill.
The rost Of us sat there with our noses
10 the air-ppe. Pretty soon heard a
click on the pipe. It was tap tap
/ picked mp hammer and hit the pipe
three times. Back came the answer
three taps. / shouted. Boys, they
know wore herer How we yelled and
danced! We huddled around that
mir pipe and every ten seconds or so,
click-click' came the echo OF the ham
mer. We replied. They didn't exactly
know who we were down there, and SO
In tho hope that one of us might UNDER
stand telegraph signals they sent
and got an operator from the telegraph
Office, and he banged away with the
signals. but we didn't understand 1t.
The most joyous sound on earth for
the hours we were imprisoned
there was the sound Of that click click
over the pipe. It was simply the
signal OF hope. We did not know
what the trouble was, but that click
click assured us that Superintendent
Boyle was doing all he could. Fortu-
nately. we had candles, and were not
in tho darkness. We had some TO-
bacco. but could only chew II. Air was
too precious to indulge in smoke. We
did have great tub Of Ice. and how
wo treasured II as il meltedl The draft
was insutlerably hot but we kept our
noses to the pipe and breathed the pure
air forced down. We learned after
ward how excited the whole Pacific
Coast was at our fate. Women came
and kneeled at that little lower engine
and prayed heaven that II would not
break II did not II IL is possible
for man to love n piece Of machinery
! love that title brown dish that sent
n current OF life giving air TO us over
1000 feet That little engine is run
ming at tho Alta Mine to-day, and I'll
git OF the train al Reno any time 10 60
over and see IL
well, we were Gagged up there sixty
hours without anything TO eat The
Ice went ia ten hours. so we had 70
drink the hot water from the drift
But we kept banging away at tho pipe
with our signals. And all night aud
NIL day those faithful fellows on top
stood aud clicked. clicked away to en-.
courage us.
What was the cause Of the delays"
"They had 10 send TO San Francisco
for machinery TO repair tho pump.
They sent q special engine. had the
foundry work al night had the piece
sent up BY another special eng ne. and
after three days Of mortal anguish and
starvation nearly three days Of hope
less entombment quarter Of mile be-
low the earlh's surface were res
ciicd.
The click along tho Pipe had been
well kept up. bat In the last few hours
they came with a rattle. Then we
knew the end was near "Bnl." the
boss. took his car from the pipe and lac
said: ''Goaich, believe she's workin',"
meaning the big pump. Ho darted
down tho inclined cross-cut, and thcte
came ycll Of delight that nearly froze
us. .''She'a workin, boys; she's workin.'
The water Is goIn' down. There you.
Goatoh. jam your ear 10 the pipe. and
see II you can hear itl' damned my
car mp. and sure enough l could just
catch the throh. throb Of tho big
engine. yelled. 'All right. BIN. she's
workin'. aud then the click along tho
pipe came faster than ever. We knew
We were saved Down on your knees.
boys 7, said Bill. "You don't deserve
TO live II you don't" Aud wc four
kncelcd there. We didn't say much,
but can tell you We meant Il.
1T took three or four hours TO pump
out the shaft and drift. by that time
wo bad burned up nearly our last
candle. and We had had nothing to cat
all the period. But the big pump held
TO lis work and just as soon rs tho
1850 station could be reached with
cage a dozen strong arms were there to
help u.s.
"But never again would go into a
deep silver mine am brave man"
said Mr.. Goatch, shat Is rs brave as
mon 60, but never again will l be
buried alive quarter Of mile under
the ground with nothing but little
blower engine and n four inch pipe be-,
tween mo and death. "-C Chicago 1rfb-
unc.
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